How to Save Money on Lunch Meat

Those little packages of lunch meat at the store are SO expensive – agree?

Last night as I got ready to post the Hillshire Farm Naturals Lunch Meat coupon ..I realized it’s $2.81 at Target…. I said to Dave “WHO pays $2.81 for 8 oz of Lunchmeat?”

Someone must. But it sure isn’t going to be me.  Perhaps for some that’s a bargain but for me I’d be kidding you if I said that was a great deal. But it’s relative – if you really LOVE that lunchmeat, then go for it.   Even for nitrate free meat, that’s still outrageous for a small tub. Yikes.

Lunch meat is SO expensive. Yet SO many of us spend a huge amount each week on it, as we have lunches for work, kids in school and face it – lunchmeat is just a GREAT thing to have.

You’ll pay anywhere from $3 – $7 for a tub of lunch meat that is already prepared, and stalking the deli counter leaves you paying anywhere from $5 – $11 – $12 per pound. That is really an incredibly high price – you could almost buy steaks for the price of lunch meat.

So how do you save on buying it for the spouse, yourself or the kids?

For some, there is wiggle room with lunchmeat  — some people opt for Nitrate Free and so Hillshire Farms Naturals is their go-to, and for others, Applegate is their chosen brand. Either way, you’ll spend a pretty penny for something that is SO hard to stretch.

We have SIX in our family and some of you have MORE people than I do – and the older the kids get, the harder it is to save on lunch meat because they eat SO much of it.

Shop at a Warehouse. 

We love to stock up in Bulk and freeze – so for ours we head to Costco … we pay $.14 per ounce for Hillshire Farms, and we are happy with that price. We keep some in the fridge and freeze the rest.

In some cases, Costco MAY be more … but you’ll want to look at all the lunch meat available – they range in price and Costco has SO many different varieties.

Shop the $.99 Store

They DO have lunchmeat and it may sometimes vary – you can pick up Farmer John packs of 6-8 oz for just $.99. It’s not super thin sliced packs, but it’s great in a pinch if you can’t stomach paying $5 at the regular grocery store.

See our tips for shopping at the $.99 store to get the best bang for your buck.

Ask for your Deli Meat Shaved

Skip the prepackaged varieties (unless of course you are brand loyal!) and ask for the deli counter to shave your deli meat. The SUPER thin slices will go farther, load up your sandwich with lettuce, and tomatoes, perhaps a nice piece of good cheese, and you won’t have to pile so much meat on (making it stretch further).

Slice your Own

A meat slicer is a GREAT investment – pick one up on Amazon as low as $60… you can find the huge chubs of Ham, Turkey, Turkey Pastrami, Turkey Ham, and others as low as $1.75 per pound at Walmart.  Within a few months you’ll recoup that investment – it WILL pay off.

• The Farmland  4 lb Boneless Ham is $6.98 – that’s $1.75 per pound
• The Jennie-O Turkey Pastrami is $5.18 ea. – or $3.45 per pound
• The Jennie-O Turkey Half Ham is $2.68 per lb

ALL are significantly less than packaged items. .. not to mention you may be able to stack coupons on them when available too.  You can slice and freeze in smaller portions.  As for the slicer – you can ALSO use it to slice up your cheese, and roasts too.

Ask the Butcher to Slice

SOME stores will allow you to ask the butcher to slice large chubs – you’ll need to ask your store. Safeway will not.. Fry’s will not, but I haven’t ever checked Bashas – they may, it’s worth asking!

Sometimes you can find chubs on closeout – just a few weeks ago I was able to score the Farmland 4 lb Boneless Ham for $4.50 … and I threw it in the freezer at home to slice later on.

Stock Up on Meat at the Holidays

Take advantage of meat sales at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter to pick up Hams, Turkeys and Roasts and you can slice them yourself (or, ask your butcher to slice!)

Freeze what you can’t use right away, or slice and freeze in smaller portions to use all year.

Take Advantage of Coupons & Special Offers

If you can’t possibly invest in a meat slicer, or you absolutely LOVE a particular brand of lunch meat – that is OK – at least wait and use coupons on that item to lessen your out of pocket.

In the meantime, learn how to make the meat stretch by overcompensating with lettuce, tomatoes and veggies on your sandwich… or switch up your lunches to allow your kids to try NEW things so you aren’t as reliant on lunch meat that’ll blow your budget of the water.

As much as we LOVE lunch meat, paying $9 – $11 per pound is just not in the cards. Neither is paying $3.00 for a small 8 oz Tub.. even with a coupon. In these cases, what has helped us is using other items to make sandwiches… Tuna, Egg Salad, Chicken Salad, and even Meatloaf or Turkey Sandwiches.

It’s most cost effective, and gives us a chance to throw some variety in there to something that can be pretty boring after a few days.